Mass Effect is Strange - Common Memories
by debott
Summary: Mass Effect!AU; Commander Maxine Caulfield and Chloe P'Rice recall almost lost memories from their common past. They realize how much they have actually lost in their almost fifteen years of separation. And they discover what they have missed sadly, what would be better, if it stayed in the past, and what they decide to rekindle, now that they are reunited again.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I wrote this for all LiS-fans (even for those, who don't know ME). The sci-fy game was mostly an inspiration for the background and lends some of its names and inventions. Therefore all ME-references and character backgrounds will be explained at the end of every chapter (marked with '*').**  
 **None of them will be _that_ important, that they don't explain themselves, anyways, though.** **The only one, worth mentioning right away is the following:  
**

 **In this story Chloe is an asari***

 **This lets the usual Pricefield become an interesting, different relationship, only possible in the ME-universe.  
**

 **If you're interested, be graciously welcomed to proceed...**

 **Parts of featured content belong to Bioware/EA and Dontnod/Square Enix**

* * *

 **Mass Effect is Strange: 'Common Memories' pt.1  
**

"The commanding officer is signing off from duty. _X.O. Chase_..., you have the deck."

Chloe watched how Max ended her call without waiting for an answer from her Executive Officer. The Brunette moved away from the speaker and crossed the small room whilst stretching and bending the muscles of her back and neck. She could feel the burdening weight of the responsibility of command drop off from her while she approached her blue companion. The latter still lay stretched out comfortably on their shared berth and observed the younger one stooping down at the other side of the bed, in order to pull off the boots of her uniform. Her dog tags dangled eagerly from her neck in the process.

"I can't stop being astonished by how much you have grown up." The asari remarks to Max. Her left hand gave her head a slight upward tilt so she could take a peek at Max. She smiled as she catched a look at the human's face while the woman lay down to Chloe's right once again. Max actually tried to hide from her that her face had lit up reddish by a blush, so common to humans when they are sheepish or feel embarrassed by anything. Chloe usually found this reaction awkward: _Why do they suffer high blood pressure in their faces when confronted with these things?_ But when it happened to her young friend it seemed kinda adorable. In secret Chloe was proud of herself to still possess the power to make the now Commander of the Systems Alliance* blush.

"Now stop being that way already!" Max replied with a shy giggle, but still looked away towards the starboard window and into the stars outside.

"What!?" Chloe asked obliviously keeping the smile at her companion.

"Well,..." Max started as she now stared at her own feet "...It sounds weird when you say things like that... It's almost as if you were a distant relative to me, like my grand aunt or sorts of." she explained slowly.

"Heh! What's that supposed to mean?" The blue girl tried playfully to sound offended. "I might be older than you, but I'm pretty sure we two are not related. Goddess, we don't even look akin."

Max rolled her eyes but couldn't help but giggle at the last obvious statement. She looked back at Chloe's even increased smirk now and asked with a lifted eyebrow:"Older than _me_? Chloe, I think you're even older than my grand _grand_ parents! You're literally not even from this _century_! And also not from the century _before_ this one _!_ "

"So?" Chloe asks slightly bewildered by the last word.

"Like, ... your birthday was _1994_..." Max paused after emphasizing this date like it was a terribly improper number"...and today is the year _2183_. These are even two completely different _millennia_. I'm not even sure if digital _media_ was already invented back then..."

Max finished her illustration still with a sheepish grin on her face. She turned her head at her neighbor now in expectance for an answer, which she got:" Well, not by _your_ people anyways... But what's it to _me_ , when you guys smashed each other's heads with wooden clubs, while I could enjoy holodeck entertainment and holiday voyages to the citadel*?"

Max finally couldn't hold her delightful laugh back at the imagination of Chloe's accurate interpretation of the prehistoric Homo Sapiens. And vice versa the sound of her laughter also improved Chloe's already immaculate mood.

Once the Commander catched her breath again she added "I don't think it was _that_ bad on Earth* back then." Afterwards she resumed her view out of the window together with Chloe this time. Her right palm gripped her dog tags while her other rested on her stomach.

For a few moments they both just lay there next to each other, gazing out of the window and into the passing by stars. The _Blackwell_ * slowly continued her orbit as the planet below them came in sight. On the dayside they could see just how much ice and snow covered the enormous pole caps of this heavenly body, merely beeing able to differentiate ice from clouds. Only towards the equator climate reached temperature levels high enough to allow dozens of dark blue seas and lakes to scatter the vast green-brownish forests so typical for Arcadia*.

When the ship shifted into the night cycle of the planet they were able to observe the spectacular scene of the aurora from high above. It shimmered beneath them in bright green and much farther southward than it could be seen back on Earth. It effectively embraced the entire upper third of Arcadia's northern hemisphere, dancing back and forth to a melody both of the observers could only divine, out here in the endless vacuum of space.

As the planet shifted even further underneath them, they finally could spot the only evidence of mankind's existence on the otherwise serene and peacefully untouched surface of this heavenly body. It lay next to the largest ocean almost exactly on top of the equator, where actually reasonably mild temperatures were achieved throughout the year. Once the city of Arcadia was easy to make out during nighttime, since it always had been the only spot on the entire planet that was permanently lit up by artificial light. But today the city had shrunken down to a mere shadow of its past brightness, barely recognizable as a tiny yellow dot in the otherwise complete blackness, which covered up the rest of the planet.

And as it happened it was the place both of them, Max and Chloe, called their home. For each of them in a different way. But they both knew it would always be their home. Because of the enchanting and most beautiful memories, that were founded within this very place. For Max anyways since she was born here, but even so for Chloe as she -so it felt like for her- came first to life here as well...

"Max?" The asari broke her gaze and the silence after quite some time watching.

"Hm?" Max slowly turned her head also letting loose of her stare and looking in Chloe's blue eyes instead.

Chloe reached up to Max's hand and held it in hers while she said: "Do you, um..., do you remember the first time we met?" She could tell Max was surprised by this question out of the blue.

"Um..." The brunette had to clear her throat before she continued "Actually... no. Now that I think of it..." for her Chloe had always been part of her life. It felt like she was like an old sister, one to whom she could look up to and could expect support anytime she needed. And that since ...ever, basically. At least until Max left Arcadia heading for Earth.

"Well... _I_ do. Would you like to hear it? Chloe asked quietly with a nostalgic looking face Max never had been seeing until then."It would just, I dunno, explain my _'awkwardness'_ from before."

"Why would I _not_ wanna like hearing that story? It sounds like the most important detail in my life." Max replied with an encouraging smile towards her childhood friend.

"Er... I dunno, it's just... we never actually talked about this 'important detail'. Chloe winked to her mate while citing her." So... you know I was journeying a lot before I ended up on Arcadia, right?" She waited for her auditor to nod before she continued "Well, the last thing I was doing was travelling with a bunch of Quarians* on their pilgrimage and uh... It was just around when you humans settled in on the citadel so... since I got sick of those masked geeks anyways, and I had already seen most of the other species' homeworlds, and Batarians* fucking freak me out, I decided to hit on Earth." Her staring wandered through in the whole room, never resting on one place for too long especially not Max's eyes, while still holding her hand and resting their both palms between them on the mattress.

Then she put on a little grin looking at the woman next to her again and playfully teased: "You know, saying _'Whazzup!'_ to the earthlings from outer space. Those _strange_ unknown beings that -foresightedly as they are- thought, it would be a good idea to attack the galaxy's largest military apparatus, with previously mentioned wooden clubs they used on themselves before?"

Max let out a sigh of amusement at Chloe's joke*, but remained silent since she knew well Chloe was distracting.

As the latter realized Max wouldn't retort to her taunt she continued: "Erm... so basically I tried to hop on the next best cargo liner headed towards this new 'Alliance space', only to finding out its destination was the outmost human colony at the time - _i_ _f_ not still today. A place literally _nobody_ went that time, except those, who never planned on leaving again and wanted to stay there the rest of their lives." She paused for a second repenting what she just said before she continued a little quieter "Aaand...-as you might have noticed- exactly _that_ kind of nobody was what I became here." Chloe trailed off after that, staring at her feet in deep thought and not being able to look Max in the eye.

"So?" Max asked slowly after a while pulling Chloe out of her stare "And how did we meet? That must've been more than twenty-five years by now?"

Chloe got out of her thoughts looking at Max shortly, who still listened patiently. She gave her a slow nod at the latter question before she continued with a sigh:" So I basically stranded in a dead end street: I still had credits* left, but obviously nobody would accept them, and even _if,_ I would have had to wait until the next opportunity to leave again days later. In my desperation I started walking down the new budding colony, basically knocking on every door for a place to stay for a while."

"-And then you ended up at _our_ door..." Max continued with barely more than a whisper, remembering the neighborhood of Arcadia City during her childhood. She realized that she also had begun staring at nothing now just like Chloe did before.

"You know it." Chloe agreed "Your parents were the first -and probably only ones- to welcome me into their home. _Me!_ An absolute stranger. And an _alien_ to them on top." Chloe's eyes got damp at the remembrance of Ryan and Vanessa, but still a smile on her face manifested.

She remembered how warm their home felt when they invited her in. A feeling she could not recall having had anytime before then. She couldn't believe how lucky she was that she found the supposedly one household on Arcadia, which had a _single_ child, yet a house designed for a family with _two_ children. Because they were just pre-built that way for easy transport and construction.

"And then there were _you_..." she continued with noticeably damped voice. Blinking away the wetness that had blurred her vision she looked over to Max once more. The woman still stared wholes into the ship's hulk. Her mouth slightly agape in the dreamy way Chloe always used to adore.

She pulled both their hands up closer to their faces and added her other palm as well, cupping Max's in both of hers now. She gazed at the backside of Max's hand in hers, again beholding how much she had changed during the last years. At least on the outside. In fact Chloe wouldn't see the brave warrior and strong leader, on whose side she had fought earlier these days, and rather this incredibly fragile and eager, little and pinkish being she tried to put in words right now.

By now she just spat out, what she remembered from this fateful first encounter: "You were all over me, from the second we first met, looking up at me in this childish awe... After all, I was the first alien you ever saw." she had to laugh a little at the last phrase even though it kinda felt more like a sob in retrospect." I remember you reached your hand up at me shaking mine as you introduced yourself to me, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Vanessa was totally baffled when you just dragged me along with you to your room to show me your toys." Chloe just kept on talking not able to put off this mushy smile, while her eyes just continued watering until they finally flooded over. "I didn't know how to react back then, but I know today, that I actually started to fall in love with you back then, in _this_ moment... with the little you, always pulling me into your adventures with your spaceships and -pirates and -warriors." Chloe laughed, her tears rolling down her face right now, when she noticed that a flat palm was gently sandwiched between her own two. Unconsciously comparing the size of their hands just like they used to in the past..., only to realize that Max's seemed to have become slightly larger than hers since they last checked.

"So you stayed..." Max summarized absent-mindedly. She knew the ongoing story from there. All the time Chloe had talked she just stared here and there while so much of her childhood memories flashed back to her. _And they are all wonderful memories_. Max thought as she slowly intertwined the fingers of her hand with the ones on Chloe's right, effectively creating a beautiful pattern of alternating light-blue and peach-colored fingers. She wanted to calm Chloe, but had to restrain herself from tearing up as well by now.

"Well..., where should I have been _going_ afterwards?" Chloe responded. Her voice got a little louder as she barely could hold up her voice from sobbing "I had no _home_ , no _family_..., _nowhere_ to go!" She had to force these words out at this point as her sobs and tears from all the years before her safe haven broke down on her. All those _disappointments_ , all those _denials_ and all those _banishments!_ And she never actually thanked Ryan and Vanessa enough. For holding onto her, giving her this safety, this deep trust to even watch over their beautiful daughter, giving her this feeling like some needed her. This feeling like... _home_.

She continued, yet angrily now "And now I have nothing _again_... except for this shitty... frozen and... _ruined_ pile of a planet!" She waved towards the window with her left as her strength to hold up what little attitude she had had until this point broke up in her crying.

"You still have _me_..." Max gently whispered shifting over to Chloe and taking her into her arms. She could feel the pain and the hurting her old friend suffered.  
The asari gratefully accepted the embrace and buried her wet face into the shoulder of her friend's uniform, who balmily cradled her sobbing body.

Over Chloe's shoulder she could still observe Arcadia outside. With a new day starting it slowly lit up again leaving the darkness of the night behind. All the while _Shambhala_ , Its sun, rose behind the awakening planet once more, shortly blinding her with its warm brightness, and flooding their intimate togetherness with light.

Max continued, whilst gazing into its rays with tearful eyes; soothingly but all the more determined: "You still have _me_! And _we_ still have Arcadia! And we _will_ save it!"

* * *

 **Mass Effect-references + explanations:**

 ***Asari:** A quite powerful species and people of blue, elegant and cool-headed 'women', living up to a thousand years. Pretty much the exact opposite of our Chloe, and the reason, why she wasn't accepted by her kind :( Also: asari resemble humans in such a great degree that their anatomy won't have any consequeces for this fic at any point.

 ***Systems Alliance:** Aka. all humans/human government

 ***Citadel:** Aka. enormous space station/city; 'capital' of the interstellar community of most aliens+humans (almost like High Charity (Halo), only in cooler ^^)

 ***Earth:** A quite decent place, I bet you know it ;D

 ***Blackwell/Cruiser:** For this story the SSV _Blackwell_ is a _veeery_ small, but still barely cruiser-classed spaceship ( I plan on adding a codex article )

 ***Arcadia:** check out the codex-article i wrote about Arcadia for this one. You can (and honestly should) read it; it's going to be important for this story. ;D

* **Quarian:** More space folk, basically

* **Batarian:** Even more space folk; There's actually quite a bunch of them in ME ;D

* **Chloe's joke/First Contact** **War:** humanity's first encounter with aliens ended up pretty bloody... for the humans...

* **Credits:** I think you can guess what this is: MONEYZ!  
Chloe's problem here was, that -I assume- no human colonist would accept the interstellar currency of a _'credit'_ back in 2158. Just guessing tho. Actually in a first version I wrote she simply didn't have money left, but then I came up with this litte fun fact ^^

 **All the above mentioned terms (including 'Arcadia', but excluding 'Blackwell' or 'Chloe's joke') can be looked up on the official ME-wiki anytime; or just ask me via review/PM, if anything remained unclear ;)**

* * *

 **This is approximately the first half of the one-shot 'Common Memories'; There is a greater story behind this scene. It is covering, what is already going off on Arcadia, behind the scenes at the point of this one-shot. I'm not sure though if I'm going to find the time to publish the entire story. :/  
**

 **I want to point out, that the cover-image for this fiction, is not my own: It is called ' _Leaving Thessia ME3_ ' by _WolfCryi_ (DeviantArt). I feel terrible for using it, because I don't have a permission by its creator. But since I didn't get a response on my inquiry and have no other way of contacting her -and it just fits so DAMN well in this scene ****DX** **\- I had to use it.  
So, please, if anybody, by any chance, knows said artist or wants me to take her picture down, because it's not legally mine, let me know. I don't want to take credit for anybody other's work, even if they seemingly don't care about their awesome stuff anymore :(  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Mass Effect is Strange: 'Common Memories' pt.2**

Even minutes after Chloe's tears had seized to pour and after Max's soothing words had filled the otherwise silent cabin they remained in their intimate embrace.

The asari soon found herself wanting this moment never to end. The arms of her dear friend around her and pressing her against a comfy chest made her feel like literally being in good hands and warmly protected. She nuzzled into Max's shoulder even more, whilst intensifying her grip into the back of her uniform. She aimed to give the woman holding her a signal, not to let loose of her now, even though she had already stopped crying some time ago.

She had not felt that at home and in peace in years. She barely even remembered the last time she had felt that relaxed and calm by basically doing nothing, but to enjoy the moment and the very presence of another person. Of Max. She could even feel the human's heartbeat at her face and it effectively filled her soul with faith and looking forward once more.

And all the while it seemed to be a wonder for her right now, that she even had survived all those years in uncertainty. A time without knowing what future would bring and without any hope. And for sure she wouldn't have survived if it hadn't been for Rachel.

Officer Amber had always seen a bright future in Arcadia. She had always believed that one day the colony eventually could find the peace it had deserved all along. The hope of a future in tranquility and harmony. And one without any raiders or pirates to maraud the already struggling settlement even further. As if it would have been necessary after the initial assault fifteen years back anyways. As if there was any need for them to beat down and plunder the already ruined and hopeless colony that Arcadia had become.

But Rachel Amber always had seemed to know what to do in those desperate times. Where to set up the defensive systems, in order to defeat the attackers and keep the civilians from any harm. Chloe had admired her for her tactical ingenuity, and for the fact that she did hold together, what little rest was left of the colony. Rachel had spread the seed of confidence into the very hearts of all Arcadians.  
And also into Chloe's.

Thus it had been no surprise that a world came crashing down on her, when Rachel had died. Specificly assassinated by the same filthy pack she had fought against over the years. And with her the rest of the already vanishing hope that was left in their fellow Arcadians.

This had been the reason why Chloe had grown so desperate during the last months. There had been no hope left. Nobody she could have trusted enough to protect, what was left of the only home she had ever known. A home in ruins, which she had to endure alone, without those, who she felt like were her only one true family. But still her home after all.

So she had tried to take things into her own hand. Even though none of the other Arcadians had ever shown much confidence in her after Officer Amber's death. But who was she to blame. A 'drug addict' alien, who neither had learned to fight nor to lead, and whom all on top even her own kin had banished, because of her incompetence and social inability.  
What other choice had been left to her afterwards? She would have tried everything in order to help those, who didn't accept her, in ways, they never would have approved with. And indeed they didn't. And therefore she had been lost.

She could have died out there in the blizzard, slowly freezing her to the bone. Or by the blast of the explosion, that would have frazzled her body into pieces. Or by the bullet of that sniper, whose laser marker had pointed at her skull, burning at the back of her head, eager to pull the trigger at any moment.

And with all those scenarios in mind, it all still wouldn't have mattered to her. She had already had lost everything that was dear to her at that point. At least she would have perished in the assumption that her sacrifice would have saved those, who previously outlawed her and evectively exiled her from the first and last home she ever had known...

But then the most impossible thing had happened: Not only had her salvation arrived just in the very last and dreadful moment. But also did it arrive in form of the one person she would have expected the least.

And as fate, or Athame*, or… Buddha had decided it, she would end up in the very arms of that very person, whom she had missed most sadly all along, only days later. The person she had thought she would never be seeing again, because she had assumed she would stay on Earth, having lost everything she ever had known on her home planet. And also the person, who was most dear to her. The one who meant everything. And the one who relit the flame of hope in her chest once more. For the final time.

* * *

 **Mass Effect-references + explanations:**

 ***Athame:** The ancient goddess of the asari's most widely spread religion; Even though this doctrine is barely practiced anymore these days (especially by Chloe, since she isn't known to be exactly _religious_ ) it is still a major part in all asari society

 **Nope, nothing else here to mention, I hope. I think it will stay this way for the future rather than like in the first chapter. Depends on the lenght of each one I guess.**

* * *

 **A/N: The reason why this chapter became so short is because I decided to split the second half up, since the 2nd and 3rd differ a lot in their mood: This here is almost only depressing flashback and, well... referring to the main storyline of Mass Effect is Strange. The third part is happier than this, you'll see. Promise ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Mass Effect is Strange: 'Common Memories' pt.3**

Both companions had settled back on the bed once more. Their both moods were far better than they had been before. They were talking and even laughing about more decent topics again before a comforting moment of stillness encased them in the small cabin, only disturbed by the far off and silent buzzing of the ships engines.

After a while without words Max took a sheepish peek towards Chloe across from her, who stared down on their berth absent-mindedly. Max had to bite on her lip before she started and finally broke the silence between them: " Um... Chloe..?" The asari looked up to her again but before she could respond, Max continued with dilatory voice at Chloe's questioning face. "There's something... I... uh... something I wanted to... try out, since a long time actually."

Chloe raised an eyebrow with a face expressing inquiry, curiosity and... _hope?_ But she remained silent, while Max raised up her left arm, which she previously propped herself up with in her sitting position, and brought up her personal computer. She could feel Chloe's questioning look, which made her even more nervous as she typed the corresponding command lines into the linguistic processor of her Omni-tool*... and hit 'enter'.

She looked back up again into Chloe's eyes and unchanged facial expression, waited for Chloe to say something, while the heat in her own face slowly rose from tension.

"Max?" Chloe realized that Max wasn't going to say anything further so she took the word:"What is it? What do you want to try?"

But these weren't the words, which came actually out of her mouth.  
What Max would hear instead was a steady, continuous current of beautiful noises echoing through her ears. Sounds that remembered of a gentle river, slowly streaming through a green, lush and denesly grown forest and accompanied by the singing of uncountable amounts of different birds, as each one concerted their exotic chirp alongside this peaceful scenery.  
What Max would hear instead, was Chloe speaking Asari*.

With her auto-translator off, Max wouldn't hear Chloe's voice being translated into standardized human English, but what she _actually_ said.

With the sound of the asari's real voice in them, her ears lit up deeply reddish, altogether with her face, as her mouth stood open, widely agape in awe. She only could stare speechlessly at the beauty of her counterpart and her speech.

Chloe however, confronted with the human's behavior, held onto the now even increasing question mark across her face. _Why is she blushing that hard again?  
_ But then the realization hit her as she grasped what Max just had done: "-Oh!... Did you... did you just do, what I _think_... you did?" Chloe continued in Asari. But then quickly held her hand before her mouth in awareness now, that Max would probably understand not a single word of what she just had said.

It was to her increased astonishment though as she saw her partner slowly nod as an answer, but still not able to say anything.

"You... you _understand_ me?" Chloe exclaimed followed by Max's continued nod.

The woman finally found her own voice again as she sheepishly and silently answered to Chloe's bafflement: "I attended 'General Asari Linguistics' classes back at the Alliance Academy." she added slowly "It was an obligatory course, I had to pass... although I also could have chosen other alien languages, but... I didn't." Her voice became even quieter towards the end, yet Chloe could still understand her, of course, since her own translator was stable up and running.

But then the asari had an idea.

"So..." she began slowly, as she didn't want Max to not comprehend her."Since you have _passed_ this course..." her voice became teasing now. She brought up her own portable computer, also typing something in. "... does that mean you also _speak... 'General Asari Linguistics'_?" Pronouncing every singe word, she also hit enter.

"No way, Chloe! No chance! Don't make me...!" Max exclaimed in English, the former redness in her face almost immediately vanished from her face leaving it completely pale.

"Oh goddess, you humans really _do_ sound awkward!" Chloe laughed at Max's reaction. "I don't have _any_ clue, though, what you want from me." she continued to tease her companion. But Max just quickly shook her head as a response; face still pale, to which Chloe just all the more nodded back eagerly. Putting on the most encouraging and excited grin she had t offer.

Max finally gave up, realizing that the asari wouldn't talk to her anymore, unless she would say something in asari herself: "I... don't _speak_ so good... in asari?" She eventually brought out, stuttering with insecurity and by far not as fluently and beautifully as Chloe was able to, of course.

But in spite of that -or rather _because_ of that- Chloe's face lit up even more, full of pride and adoration. "Awwww..." she made a long noise of cutesy." You sound almost like a _child_! As if you just have learned how to talk!" She was extremely happy and excited about this and wanted to know just how much Max actually was able to say in her own native tongue.

"Chloe, _please_!" Max continued in asari, her redness had returned again, although she failed to restrain a little smile at Chloe's reaction

"Heh, I guess this is my name as the translator spits it out for humans." The asari replied amused, because Max hadn't paid any attention on how she just had called her friend. "Sounds... _weird_ , of course... But I like it!"

Max was embarrassed yet even more by how she didn't think of the fact that ' _Chloe_ ' actually wouldn't even understand her _human_ -given name. But she had become curious by now, as well. After all, this wasn't even the most embarrassing thing, which ever had happened to her in the asari's presence. Only the most embarrassing one in a long, _long_ time. So what did she have to loose?

They spent the rest of the evening teaching each other parts of their respective language, such as their real names - Max had to laugh at how difficult it was for Chloe to vocalize the 'x' in her own name, since there was no such phoneme in the alien language. After a while she could form quite decent sentences in asari again, while the lessons she took during her education settled back in her brain once more. She didn't know, if she would have had spoken asari ever again in her life, if not for Chloe. In fact she also didn't know if she ever even had learned it in the first place, if not for her childhood friend.

She remembered, when first confronted with the decision, most of her comrades in the academy would choose other human languages, since they were easy to learn and quickly forgotten, after the exams would be passed. Others, more ambitious ones, would sign in for 'Turian Hierarchical Linguistics', since it would serve most purpose in a military's career, because Turians* and Humans often conducted training, maneuver practices or other operations together.  
But for her the choice was pretty clear back then. Afterwards she had started to watch asari movies and series, and even continued watching them for months after passing her linguistic courses with ease.

That hasn't been long after she had to leave Arcadia and her alien friend. She thought she would never see her again, because she had expected, that Chloe would take on her travelling once more after Arcadia had been lost. She had missed the asari just as much as she had missed her parents. The difference being, that she knew, her parents were gone, while Chloe was still out there. And even years after the grief about the loss of her parents and final acceptance, she still had missed Chloe deeply. But she had to carry on with her own life, instead of wandering through the endless space of the Milky Way and its dangers, in search for a single asari she would probably never be seeing again anyway.  
This thought didn't help ease the pain though.

And Chloe has also been a reason why she had returned to Arcadia. Not only because of the distress call, but because of the memories of her dear friend, whom she had ached for, for so long. Because it was Chloe, who always had encouraged her, never to seize the pursuit of her dreams. Who gave her this feeling of protection from any harm, this feeling like knowing where to go and what to do even in darker times. This feeling like... _home._

"Muh... _Machs_?" Chloe asked cautiously, still not being able to pronounce her name properly.

They had calmed down by now from their taunts, jokes and chit-chat all the while laughing at- and about each other. As Max turned her attention at Chloe once more, she looked in the most serious expression she had seen since her crying and grief earlier. The asari bit her lip, facing her, but did not look into her eyes directly. She seemed hesitant, as if she was holding something back, although Max had no idea what that could be.

"Would you also understand..., if I said the following?" She glanced into the eyes of her counterpart now.  
" 'I dare you to kiss me'?"

Max was shocked. She _did_ understand it. And it made her heart race and flutter. She had heard of this phrase many times by now, even though they didn't teach it at the academy, of course: It was an ancient asari saying, which was barely used these days, except in old-school asari love-stories and romance-movies, which Max had been watching frequently.

But still, she wasn't sure of how to _interpret_ it. The heat in her face rose, since she knew it was an admission of deep affection and love. And a request of showing this love to one another on top. The problem was that the asari _'kiss'_ could also be translated into English with _'hug'_. The aliens were used to show their affection by embracing each other as well as by kissing. What would seem rather platonic to humans could mean much more in asari customs.

Max wouldn't actually dare to _kiss_ her old friend on the lips, although -or _because_ \- her very heart and soul ached for it so badly. She wasn't even sure if Chloe actually _meant_ it. They were fooling around just minutes ago, after all. But then again, she seemed so serious with her big and honest deep-blue eyes, which glanced keenly into her own pair right now.

"What?" Max couldn't respond anything. She was too overwhelmed by the delicate situation her friend had made her run into.

Chloe's eyes briefly disconnected from their blue counterparts. Only to take a subtle, almost not recognizable glance at a certain spot below them, down at Max's face, before she repeated her plea more resolutely now:  
"I double dare you, kiss me now."

Max thoughts continued to race around of how to act in this tender moment, all the while she lost herself in the deep loving pools that were Chloe's eyes. Subconsciously she reduced the distance between their both faces, still neither knowing how to respond nor to react to the asari's endeavor. _Or... offer?_ Max had to gasp spontaneously, surprised and excited at the mere thought of this possible option. She got stimulated even further by Chloe's scent, that made its way into her nose by the breath of air, making her lean in all the more closely. Her mind blurred and her eyelids got heavy, as she found herself desperately longing for more. She feared the drumming beat of her heart could make it collapse from aching and excitement. And she couldn't get enough of Chloe's wonderfully arousing aura, inhaling her very essence addictively.

She was already driving insane from wild longing, when her head finally reached its long desired destination, about half way between hers and the asari's original distance. And the lips of her still slightly open mouth were greeted softly by a moist but warm and supple pair of other ones. The kiss satisfied her ignited craving for the shortest glimpse of a second, before it returned even fiercer. It ignited a blaze of fire within her heavily breathing and pounding chest and unwillingly she let out a moan of deep pleasure, yearning for more of Chloe, and into her love.

* * *

 **Mass Effect-references + explanations:**

 ***Omni-tool:** A portable computer that is integrated into the fabric of one's sleeve or a glove or something. It is basically a very useful combination of a smartphone and a swiss army knife, and almost everyone in the ME-universe possesses one of these. (BTW, it's actually pretty impressive that the authors of ME had made something like that up, since the game was published back in 2007, I think, when actual smartphones weren't that common as they are today.)

 ***asari/alien language:** This topic is sadly quite neglected in the ME-universe: Although it is mentioned that any known language that exists is auto-translated into the respective language of the listener by some sort of software, the exact process was never being explained. So this is my personal assumption of how this translation works. And I also assume that asari might be a very pretty language, as you can see :)

 ***Turian:** Another alien species,... quite a surprise, I know :O

* * *

 **A/N: So this is the end of this small 'one-shot series'. Everything else is another one-shot with less connection to the main story and more fluff.  
**


	4. Citadel Shenanigans

**A/N: The following has almost nothing to do with the previous three chapters. I don't even know how or when I got the idea for this one-shot, but I wrote it all morning today and since this here is the 'one-shot'-'story-line' I'll just add it here. :P  
**

 **But** **technically** **it's not part of 'Common Memories' so let me just add another quick disclaimer:  
**

 **Parts of featured content belong to Bioware/EA and Dontnod/Square Enix**

* * *

 **Citadel Shenanigans  
**

Max leaned against the balustrade while the beat of the music in the bar continued to thud in her ears. This place was actually pretty neat although the location wasn't quite her cup of tea. Too crowded. But since her date, who had proposed this bar, was -of course- too late, she made the best of it and at least enjoyed the view of the dancing people -alien and human alike- next to- and below her on the main floor.  
She quickly adjusted her evening dress when she took a side glance and then spotted her: Chloe marched towards her, quickly pacing to the balcony. Walking through the crowd, in her typical 'A-don'-giva-shiat' attitude that made Max smile, and right past that one dancing and gorgeous blonde girl with the blue feather ear-ring. As soon as the asari recognized her waiting girlfriend had spotted her she couldn't hold back her own huge smirk that plastered her whole face once more.

Max had a hard time not to reciprocate the facial exrpession of her grinning Chloe in her dazzling evening attire, but she succeeded to remain stoic. At least on the outside. _I didn't even know Chloe had such apparel. She's so adorably beautiful.  
_ "So. An asari on shore leave." Max began trying to sound nonchalant before her date was even close enough to start cheeking her again. "You come here often?" While Chloe sat down on the bar stool next to her, Max took a mischievous peek at the blonde, who meanwhile even had forgotten to continue her dance observing the couple, but she then quickly turned around and pretended to look the other way.

The asari's grin faded a second at Max's greeting and playfulness, but she quickly pulled herself together. "Is this the first-date-thing we talked about?" she still looked a little lost in the situation.

Max only gave her the slightest hint of a nod, and hoped she wouldn't blush at her own implicit proposal.

But Chloe quickly continued "Got it. Yes. Yeah. Oh, I come here often. Mmh. Good place to blow off steam." She scanned the surroundings and the dancing people around her. "Scenery is not bad either." But as soon as her sight fell on the blonde, who had started to dance again in the background, she quickly turned back to her date before herself, eyed Max up and down and beamed. "Though the view in front of me is even better."

"That supposed to melt a girl's heart?" Max was slightly annoyed at Chloe's digression, but at least Chloe had tried and saved it.

"No." Chloe admitted slowly scooting over to her girlfriend. "But this voice is..." She set up her alluringly husky tone she knew Max loved, before she continued to buzz much closer to her companion than previously. "I'm Chloe _Price_. Your Partner-in-Crime. All-around asari bad-girl and dispenser of badassness in a totally un-badass galaxy."

Max couldn't answer. She was busy trying not to light up brightly red at Chloe's performance. The asari, well aware of the effect she had on her girlfriend, capped it all off, always maintaining her playfully flirtatious voice: "Also, I kill villains on the side. And you are?"

"Cuh- Commander Caulfield, Alliance Navy." Max responded stupidly. She didn't know what to say, since she still was collecting her thoughts once again, about to lose the game she herself had started. But the asari didn't even leave her any time to form a proper response.

"Caulfield, huh?" She inconspicuously scooted over even more towards Max all the while. "I might have heard a few things about you."

"Oh? Flatter me." Max still didn't know what to say. _Damnit!_ _I should have prepared for this beforehand._ But her girlfriend did such a great job she would most probably have won that point anyways. The asari was now close enough to Max so that the commader could take in her scent. She had to bite her lip.

Chloe could even whisper in her ear now, trying not to lose focus at the human's own perfume. "Word is you're smart. _Sexy_. A wicked shot. Also, you kill villains on the side, too."

"Uh-huh." Max dead-panned and backed off from Chloe now. She bet she could tease a higher caliber than this out of her girlfriend. She wasn't that easy. "And do most girls fall for that?"

Chloe blinked once as she lost her composure at Max's reaction. "Well, sure... This voice, and uh... Aaand umm..." she failed to regain her erotic tone before she finally huffed with even some distress in her voice. "I'm running out of banter here, Maxie."

 _Wowsers. She's usually never this tongue-tied. Quick! Help her Super-Max._ "Make it up." She whispered as if she had to hide it from some audience.  
"Remember, we just met."

"Right! Yeah. I mean..." Chloe finally regained her voice from before. "Yeah, _all_ the girls fall for it..." She grabbed Max by the arm and started to pull the Commander away from the balcony and towards the crowd. "Let me show you!"

"Wh-... What're y'doing?!" Max was startled and completely unsure of what her girlfriend was up to this time. Especially due to the unspeakably naughty things she already had on her own mind.

"It'll be fun!" The asari exclaimed with her dreaded impish grin and glistening blue eyes that only weakened the Commander's resolve to resist them.

"Oh, no. No-no-no-no... No!" But yes, in fact Max was already stumbling after her girlfriend, trying to keep up at least outer composure of resistance.

The asari pulled her all the way to the dance-floor in the middle of the crowd, where she suddenly stopped, causing Max to awkwardly flop against her due to her own momentum. She then grasped the Commander by her hip with her free hand and even before her partner could achieve proper poise she started to dance with her.  
"Been taking lessons on the side." She announced proudly grinning.

Max was totally overextended by the situation and tried not to trip over her girlfriends or -even worse- her own feet.  
"You're going to pay for this later." she moaned annoyedly. But then she realized how suggestive that just had sounded blushing even harder than she already did anyways. So she hoped Chloe might not have heard her, when the asari made an even increased swing, pulling Max back and forth on the dance floor and making her stumble even more in her unfamiliar high-heels. The other people around them had to move sideways as the couple -under Chloe's lead- claimed by far the most space on the floor.

"Promises, promises..." Chloe whispered in her sensual voice from before. She was on a roll now, swirling her clumsy girlfriend left and right and leaving her no pause.

 _She_ did _hear it. Fuck!_ Max thought at the fact and even more so when she nearly stumbled _again._ But then she had an idea. She waited for the right moment and scooted her left foot forward causing Chloe in her flow to get caught on Max's leg and almost tripping over it herself. The look of the shock on the asari's face was priceless, but was quickly replaced by the previous smirk again once Max couldn't hold back her own hushed and impish giggle.

They continued to dance to the music and the human slowly got adjusted to the rhythm of Chloe's movement and even got caught by the dance's flow herself. When the song made a pause for a moment she even wrapped her leg around her girlfriend's thigh, bringing both their bodies painfully close together for the time being. The gesture brought them attention from several other people around them, but Max couldn't care less in this moment. She only bit her lower lip, distracted by those deep and beautiful blue eyes that stared down in hers. Lovingly and longingly and... lustfully.

The music continued, forcing the two apart again and continue their dance before they could savage each other right then and there. And although Max didn't know what to do at all, she simply devoted herself to her beaux and kept moving. Being gracefully or clumsily - what did it matter? It was instinctively and intuitively as she got one with the music and the flow and the blue beauty in front of her. As long as she was together with Chloe it all was irrelevant. It was just the two of them.  
Only when she let out a short laugh at their combined movement did she realize she was smiling like a dork all the while. But she couldn't help it and even took the lead in their swirling for a short time.

"Now you're getting it." Chloe hummed in appreciation. She prepared herself for a larger swing when the music set the right timing for it and twirled her Max more energetically than ever before. She lost grip of her partner and almost feared she had overdone it and Max fell, but instead the brunette elegantly did a couple pirouettes before coming to a halt in front of Warren who seemed to have watched the scenery from the side-lines all the time. The poor nerd was completely taken aback at the sudden closeness of his commander, who looked directly at him grinning, but he brought out no word and only managed to gulp fiercely.  
But Chloe stepped in from behind Max and snatched her skillfully back onto the dance floor. Smirking again, but still slightly annoyed by the giggling human's horseplay.  
Continuing their dance the brunette nuzzled apologetically into her one-and-only companion and even stole a quick kiss, which appeased the asari somewhat again. She had deserved that prank wiht Warren after all their bantering from before and dragging the shy human into the middle of a crowd. And said crowd now only had eyes for the loving couple. Chloe didn't care if they all watched them dancing and alternatingly fooling around with their moves. They could all witness and eat their heart out at this asari swinging around the prettiest, most adorable and most wonderfully dazzling person in the whole place. The whole galaxy even.

The only other person dancing on the entire floor was that blonde from before, who had retreated to a spot offside. But no-one even paid attention to her anymore. Everyone was captivated by the duo in the middle of the circle. And the duo itself only had eyes for one another as their movements intuitively became one. They didn't even pay attention to the music any longer when it slowly came to an end.

When they finished their dance Chloe still had one move more in stock. She lowered Max's whole upper body slowly backwards and towards the ground, causing her brown locks to swing with her. She held her up in a hovering position only a couple feet above the floor with one hand at her back, while the brunette gave in to her and trustingly leaned into the asari's arms. Both breathing heavily they remained in this position for several seconds, ignoring the audience's cheers and the applause.

"So tell me:" Chloe brought out while panting and smirking again. "Think a girl would fall for that?"

"Oh, hella yes." Max sighed willingly, but happily exhausted by her girlfriend's actions and vigor. "But just as long as it's the one standing in front of you." she added standing upright again and looking into her lover's eyes.

"You know it." Chloe whispered trying to control her breathing while beholding said one girl in front of her and swallowing before she continued with a suggestive smirk. "And it gets even better when you try it in bed..."

* * *

 **A huge space-cookie for everyone who recognized this scene. (Yes, everything sounds better, when you put 'space-' in front of it; just try it yourself :P)  
And for everybody who doesn't: ****It's actually not invented by me and I guess it was already part of hundreds of other fan-fics, but anyways.** **I'll say just these tree words: Garrus Tango Shepard (and maybe I should add 'hilariously adorable' as well)**

 **In fact this adjusted scene isn't even part of the 'MEiS-lore', or at least it takes place in an undefined future - _if_ the two survive the events on Arcadia, that is. ^^**

 **Also, I already thought about writing an actual scenario, which would need me to tag this fic M-rated, just as 'proposed' in this one-shot. This could be interesting since it would be my first smut-fic as well as because of Chloe's special physiology as an asari.  
But that also would lie in an undefined future, I guess, and until then I think it's just fine as it is. :)  
**


End file.
